After what seemed like an eternity for fans, Legendary Pictures finally announced that Denis Villeneuve's Dune is getting a sequel."This is only the beginning..." Legendary tweeted. "Thank you to those who have experienced [Dune] so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We're excited to continue the journey!" Along with the tweet was a logo for Dune: Part Two.
Like its predecessor, Dune: Part Two will be financed by Legendary and distributed by Warner Bros. However, the sequel -- slated for an October 2023 release -- will be exclusive to theaters, unlike Dune, which debuted in theaters and on HBO Max.
Published in 1965, Dune is the first of many installments in Frank Herbertâs Dune saga. Set in the distant future, the story explores a feudal society of noble houses, each of which controls individual planets that all owe allegiance to the power-hungry Padishah Emperor. Following two prior adaptations, Legendary acquired the Dune rights in 2016 and tapped Villeneuve to direct. In the years ahead, the film's cast would grow to include Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd, Javier Bardem and more.
While a sequel to Dune was seemingly inevitable, the nature of the deal between Legendary and Warner Bros. presented some doubt, especially considering the tension that arose when WarnerMedia dumped the full 2021 Warner Bros. slate on HBO Max without consulting with Legendary first.
"Thereâs no such thing as Dune 1 and Dune 2. Itâs Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two," Villeneuve said in August. "We have been hearing in the past few decades that itâs not possible to adapt this book, and that itâs an impossible task. I think that in the back of the mind of the studio, itâs still the same! So the first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist, and I think that I proved that â everybody at Warner Bros and Legendary, they are 100 percent behind the project. They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not have a Dune: Part Two, because they love the movie. They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward. And they still did half of it. So, you know, Iâm very optimistic."
Dune is now in theaters and on HBO Max. The sequel is slated to arrive in October 2023.